A wide variety of performance opportunities await our students each year, with orchestras, bands, choirs and opera, jazz nonets and combos, small ensembles, and more.
A variety of programs and initiatives operate continuously or annually to enhance learning experiences and help students prepare for their future in music.
The MSU College of Music supports and challenges students, values innovation and creativity, and helps every community member achieve professional excellence.
Strategize where to spend the summer. In addition to helping you hone your craft and work with experts, festivals can help you develop a specialty (new music, baroque, chamber, etc), build musical networks, and open up new markets (abroad and within the US).
So, make a career coaching appointment to articulate your foals, and then use the resources at your fingertips – faculty knowledge, fellow colleagues, and resources such as the follow links – to find the right experience for you.
Festival Name | Program Type | Apply Date |
American Bach Soloists Academy | Early Music | February 28 |
Amherst Early Music Festival | Early Music, Dance | April 15 |
AIMS-Graz (Austria) | Vocal, Orchestral | February 1 |
Aria International Summer Academy | Vocal | April 1 |
Aspen Music Festival and School | Opera, Orchestral, Collaborative Piano, Conducting | September 15, Opera November 1, Collaborative Piano November 12, Conducting January 14, Instrumental |
Atlantic Music Festival Institute | Instrumental, Vocal, Chamber | November 30 |
Bang On A Can Summer Festival | New Music | January 11 |
Banff Center for the Arts and Creativity (Canada) | Opera, Chamber, Composition, Individual Project Sessions (Seasonal) |
Various |
Blossom Music Festival | Instrumental, Chamber, Piano | February 1 |
Bowdoin International Music Festival | Instrumental, Composition, Piano, Chamber | January 15 |
Brevard Music Center Summer Institute & Festival | Opera, Orchestral, Instrumental | Various |
Britten-Pears Arts Aldeburgh Festival (England) | Instrumental, Voice | Rolling |
Centrum Summer Festival | Chamber, Voice | March 1, Chamber Voice opens in January |
Chautauqua Institution & Festival | Opera, Orchestral, Piano, Conducting | Feb 1, Instrumental Feb 15, Piano, Conducting Nov 1, Opera |
Clazz International Music Festival (Italy) | Crossover Classical and Jazz | Opens in December |
Colorado College Summer Music Festival | Orchestral | February 15 |
Cortona Sessions for New Music (Italy) | Composition, Instrumental | February 1 |
Credo National Festival | Orchestral | February 15 |
Domaine Forget International Music and Dance Academy (Quebec, Canada) | Instrumental, Chamber | Opens in December |
Eastern Music Festival | Orchestral | February 20 |
Hot Springs Music Festival | Orchestral | Open in December |
International Contemporary Ensemble: Ensemble Evolution | New Music, Instrumental, Composition | Opens in January |
Killington Music Festival | Chamber Music | March 1 |
Madeline Island Chamber Music | Chamber Music | February 15 |
Marrowstone Music Festival | Orchestral | February 1 |
Meadowmount School of Music | Strings | January 20 |
Monteux School & Music Festival | Orchestral, Conducting | January 1 |
Mostly Modern Festival | Instrumental, Conducting, Voice, Piano, Composition | February 2, Composition April 1, Instrumental, Conducting, Piano April 15, Voice |
Music Academy of the West | Instrumental, Collaborative Piano, Voice | October 15, Voice January 15, Collaborative Piano February 1, Instrumental, Solo Piano |
Music at Menlo Festival & Chamber Music Institute | Chamber Music | January 15 |
National Orchestral Institute at Kennedy Center | Orchestral, Conducting, Composition | January 10, Composition February 6, Orchestral, Conducting, Sphinx Fellowship |
National Repertory Orchestra | Orchestral, Conducting | January 26 |
Nief-Norf Summer Festival | Instrumental, Composition | February 15 |
Norfolk Chamber | New Music, Chamber, Voice, Conducting | January 4, New Music Workshop, Chamber Music Session March 14, Choir & Choral Conducting |
NYU Summer Sessions | Various | Opens in January |
Oberlin Baroque Performance Institute | Early Music | June 1 |
Opera in the Ozarks | Opera | January 28 |
Oregon Bach Festival – Berwick Academy | Early Music | January 30, Instrumental March 4, Organ |
Pacific Music Festival (Japan) | Orchestral | January 17 |
PRISMA (British Columbia, Canada) | Orchestral, Conducting | February 28 |
Ravinia Steans Festival | Voice, Instrumental, Composition | September 30, Voice January 31, Piano, Strings, Composition |
Rocky Ridge Music Center | Instrumental, Chamber | March 15 |
Round Top Festival Institute | Orchestral, Conducting | February 5 |
San Francisco Early Music Society Summer Workshops & Classes | Early Music | Rolling |
Sarasota Music Festival | Orchestral, Conducting | February 15 |
Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival (Germany) | Orchestral | November 30 |
Scotia Festival of Music (Nova Scotia, Canada) | Chamber Music | February 15 |
Sewanee Music Festival | Opera, Orchestral, Composition | January 18, Opera March 22, Instrumental, Composition |
Talis Festival & Academy | Chamber Music, Composition | February 15 |
Tafelmusik Baroque Summer Institute | Early Music | Opens in December |
Taneycomo Festival Orchestra | Orchestral | Opens in January |
Tanglewood Music Center | Composition, Vocal Arts, Instrumental, Conducting, Piano, Library | October 15, Vocal Arts, Composition December 12, Conducting TBA – Instrumental, Library, Piano |
Texas Music Festival | Orchestral, Voice, Piano, Jazz | February 13, Orchestral April 1 Voice, Piano |
Verbier Festival Academy | Instrumental, Conducting, Voice, Chamber | November 3, Voice January 18, Chamber, Orchestral, Conducting |
Yellow Barn Summer Festival | Instrumental, Chamber | January 24, Live January 30, Video |
Youth Orchestra of the Americas | Orchestral, Conducting, Composition | November 1 |
Festival Name | Program Type | Apply Date |
The Gathering Orchestra | Two-year Fellowship | TBD |
Jazz Aspen Snowmass Academy | Big Band, Afro-Cuban Big Band | March 1 |
The Woodshed Network | Women in Jazz | Nov 23 |
Telluride Student All-Stars Ensembles | Flagship Educational Program | June 1 |
Boysie Lowery Living Jazz Residency | Two-week performance, composing, arranging, improvisation intensive residency | April 1 |
Keep an Eye Summer Jazz Workshop (Amsterdam, Netherlands) | International jazz workshop | May 1 |
Siena Jazz International Summer Workshop (Italy) | International jazz workshop | February 1 |
Betty Carter’s Jazz Ahead at Kennedy Center | Jazz education residency program | January 1 |
Stanford Jazz Institute | Jazz education workshop | Opens in November |
Festival Name | Program Type | Apply Date |
SPLICE Institute | New Music | February 1 |
Cortona Sessions for New Music (Italy) | Composition, Instrumental | December 15 |
European American Musical Alliance (France) | Composition Workshop & Reading Session | March 15 |
Vienna Contemporary Composers Forum (Austria) | Composition Workshop | March 15 |
SŌ Percussion Summer Institute | Composition, Percussion | February 1 |
Collaborative Composition Initiative Workshop | New Music, Composition | October 1 |
LunART Composers Hub | Professional Development Workshop for Women Composers | January 15 |
highSCORE New Music Festival & Master Classes (Italy) | New Music, Instrumental | Rolling |
Youth Orchestra of the Americas | Composition, Instrumental | October 1 |